Beckman's Shenasi earns Citizen Award

Beckman baseball player Alex Shenasi got some television exposure recently when he was interviewed on Prime Ticket after receiving the Farmers Student Athlete Citizen Award.

Shenasi, who has a 4.2 GPA, received the award for his academic achievement and his service to the community.

The catcher was interviewed on Prime Ticket by sportscaster Kelli Tennant during halftime of the UC Irvine-Cal State Northridge game at the Bren Center earlier this month.

Shenasi, who will be a senior with the Patriots this coming season, has been involved in the Challenger baseball program.

"This is a really special honor because I work hard to do my best in everything that I'm doing," Shenasi said during the telecast. "It's important to me because I enjoy helping others and that's really what I want to do with my life. I want to be a doctor and help others. This is kind of a way I can help others early on in my life."

Beckman baseball coach Kevin Lavalle was also interviewed on the telecast. A couple days later, he talked about Shenasi with the Orange County Register.

"Basically I just nominated him for the award because I was reading the qualifications with Lance Neal our Athletic Director and Alex fit every single one perfectly," Lavalle said. "He is such a dynamic kid. Like I said on TV he is smart but he's not a nerd. He is athletic but he's not a dumb jock. He's probably the most mature kid I have ever coached. It's really rare when you have someone who truly just loves helping people because it comes natural to him. You don't get to coach many kids like Alex."

Shenasi is looking forward to his senior year with Beckman. Last season, he batted .360, earning second team All-PCL honors and also caught two no-hitters by Beckman ace James Kaprielian.